WEEE Ireland Achieves Certification of World Class Business Standards

December 13, 2019

WEEE Ireland was amongst 20 organisations from the private, public and SME sectors gathered at NSAI (National Standards Authority of Ireland) offices in Dublin this week for a special ceremony marking their achievement in becoming certified to world class business standards.

All of the businesses and bodies that achieved certification were independently audited by NSAI inspectors in order to ensure they complied with the international standards.

The certification is a recognition of the work and effort WEEE Ireland has put in and underlines their commitment to working towards best practice.

The ISO management system approach and certification, helps WEEE Ireland to improve our performance by:
·   supporting our structured programme for our quality Membership service in the extended Producer responsibility (EPR) environmental sector
·   ensuring continued delivery of our best in class approach to compliance in the area of WEEE and Waste Battery recycling and recovery operations

Pat Breen Minister for Trade, Business & Employment, Elizabeth O’Reilly Compliance & Membership Manager WEEE Ireland and Geraldine Larkin NSAI Chief Executive.

They join an elite group of over 3,000 organisations who are currently NSAI-certified in a selection of areas such as Quality Management Systems, Environmental Management Systems, Occupational Health and Safety Management Systems and Energy Management.

Compliance & Membership Manager, Elizabeth O’Reilly WEEE Ireland said: “We work with businesses from across the electrical and battery sector to support their extended producer responsibilities in Ireland. ISO certification with NSAI provides an important independent validation of our processes to ensure our Scheme meets the high environment and quality standards we set ourselves, as required by our Members and our DCCAE approval. We are delighted to be attending the ceremony today to receive our certification at the end of another busy year for WEEE Ireland.”

Speaking at the ceremony, NSAI Chief Executive Geraldine Larkin said achieving certification to world class business standards will give these organisations an advantage – both at home and abroad. “Many of the companies gathered this week were being certified to two, three or in some cases, to four standards and I am delighted to see this type of commitment.  You can see the real difference standards have made to your business and you have reaped rewards from these benefits. Not only have you gained competitive advantage – improving efficiency, reducing costs and minimising waste – your industries will continue to benefit because of your investment,” said Ms Larkin.

“At a time of increased globalization, Brexit negotiations and more and more international trade deals, it is essential for Irish industry to be as competitive as it can be. It is encouraging to see so many companies here today that are committed to working towards best practice. You are demonstrating that Ireland is one of the best places in the world to do business and that Irish and Irish based companies can compete at the highest level,” she added.

Organisations can contribute their knowledge, ideas and help build the standards of the future through becoming involved with standards development. Become a member of a volunteer committee, comment on or view a draft standard at NSAI.ie.

Filed Under:   Battery Recycling, Electrical Recycling, Extended Producer Responsibility